napoleon’s surrender to england—sent to st. helena—life in exile—death of napoleon

when it became evident that it was impossible to escape to the united states, napoleon considered two courses—to call upon the country and renew the conflict, or seek an asylum in england. the former was not only to perpetuate the foreign war, it was to plunge france into civil war; for a large part of the country had come to the conclusion of the allies—that as long as napoleon was at large, peace was impossible. rather than involve france in such a disaster, the emperor resolved at last to give himself up to the english, and sent the following note to the regent:

“royal highness: exposed to the factions which divide my country and to the hostility of the greatest powers of europe, i have closed my political career. i have come, like themistocles to seek the hospitality of the british nation. i place myself under the protection of their laws, which i claim from your royal highness as the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of my enemies.

“napoleon.”

on the 15th of july he embarked on the english ship, the “bellerophon,” and a week later he was in plymouth.

280

napoleon on board the “northumberland.”

engraved by steele, after orchardson.

281napoleon’s surrender to the english was made, as he says, with full confidence in their hospitality. certainly hospitality was the last thing to expect of england under the circumstances, and there was something theatrical in the demand for it. the “bellerophon” was no sooner in the harbor of plymouth than it became evident that he was regarded not as a guest, but as a prisoner. armed vessels surrounded the ship he was on; extraordinary messages were hurried to and fro; sinister rumors ran among the crew. the tower of london, a desert isle, the ends of the earth, were talked of as the hospitality england was preparing.

but if there was something theatrical, even humorous, in the idea of expecting a friendly welcome from england, there was every reason to suppose that she would receive him with dignity and consideration. napoleon had been an enemy worthy of english metal. he had been defeated only after years of struggle. now that he was at her feet, her own self-respect demanded that she treat him as became his genius and his position. to leave him at large was, of course, out of the question; but surely he could have been made a royal prisoner and been made to feel that if he was detained it was because of his might.

the british government no sooner realized that it had its hands on napoleon than it was seized with a species of panic. all sense of dignity, all notions of what was due a foe who surrendered, were drowned in hysterical resentment. the english people as a whole did not share the government’s terror. the general feeling seems to have been similar to that which charles lamb expressed to southey: “after all, bonaparte is a fine fellow, as my barber says, and i should not mind standing bareheaded at his table to do him service in his fall. they should have given him hampton court or kensington, with a tether extending forty miles round london.”

282

longwood, napoleon’s house at st. helena.

etching by chienon.

283but the government could see nothing but danger in keeping such a force as napoleon within its limits. it evidently took lamb’s whimsical suggestion, that if napoleon were at hampton the people might some day eject the brunswick in his favor, in profound seriousness. on july 30th it sent a communication to general bonaparte—the english henceforth refused him the title of emperor, though permitting him that of general, not reflecting, probably, that if one was spurious the other was, since both had been conferred by the same authority—notifying him that as it was necessary that he should not be allowed to disturb the repose of england any longer, the british government had chosen the island of st. helena as his future residence, and that three persons with a surgeon would be allowed to accompany him. a week later he was transferred from the “bellerophon” to the “northumberland,” and was en route for st. helena, where he arrived in october, 1815.

the manner in which the british carried out their decision was irritating and unworthy. they seemed to feel that guarding a prisoner meant humiliating him, and offensive and unnecessary restrictions were made which wounded and enraged napoleon.

the effect of this treatment on his character is one of the most interesting studies in connection with the man, and, on the whole, it leaves one with increased respect and admiration for him. he received the announcement of his exile in indignation. he was not a prisoner, he was the guest of england, he said. it was an outrage against the laws of hospitality to send him into exile, and he would never submit voluntarily. when he became convinced that the british were inflexible in their decision, he thought of suicide, and even discussed it with las cases. it was the most convenient solution of his dilemma. it would injure no one, and his friends would not be forced then to leave their families. it was easier because he had no scruples which opposed it. the idea was finally given up. a man ought to live out his destiny, he said, and he decided that his should be fulfilled.

284

napoleon at st. helena.

by delaroche.

285the most serious concern napoleon felt in facing his new life was that he would have no occupation. he saw at once that st. helena would not be an elba. but he resolutely made occupations. he sought conversation, studied english, played games, began to dictate his memoirs. it is to this admirable determination to find something to do, that we owe his clear, logical commentaries, his essays on c?sar, turenne, and frederick, his sketch of the republic, and the vast amount of information in the journals of his devoted comrades, o’meara, las cases, montholon.

but no amount of forced occupation could hide the desolation of his position. the island of st. helena is a mass of jagged, gloomy rocks; the nearest land is six hundred miles away. isolated and inaccessible as it is, the english placed napoleon in its most sombre and remote part—a place called longwood, at the summit of a mountain, and to the windward. the houses at longwood were damp and unhealthy. there was no shade. water had to be carried some three miles.

the governor, sir hudson lowe, was a tactless man, with a propensity for bullying those whom he ruled. he was haunted by the idea that napoleon was trying to escape, and he adopted a policy which was more like that of a jailer than of an officer. in his first interview with the emperor he so antagonized him that napoleon soon refused to see him. napoleon’s antipathy was almost superstitious. “i never saw such a horrid countenance,” he told o’meara. “he sat on a chair opposite to my sofa, and on the little table between us there was a cup of coffee. his physiognomy made such an unfavorable impression upon me that i thought his evil eye had poisoned the coffee, and i ordered marchand to throw it out of the window. i could not have swallowed it for the world.”

aggravated by napoleon’s refusal to see him, sir hudson 286lowe became more annoying and petty in his regulations. all free communication between longwood and the inhabitants of the island was cut off. the newspapers sent napoleon were mutilated; certain books were refused; his letters were opened. a bust of his son brought to the island by a sailor was withheld for weeks. there was incessant haggling over the expenses of his establishment. his friends were subjected to constant annoyance. all news of marie louise and of his son was kept from him.

it is scarcely to be wondered at that napoleon was often peevish and obstinate under this treatment, or that frequently, when he allowed himself to discuss the governor’s policy with the members of his suite, his temper rose, as montholon said, “to thirty-six degrees of fury.” his situation was made more miserable by his ill health. his promenades were so guarded by sentinels and restricted to such limits that he finally refused to take exercise, and after that his disease made rapid marches.

his fretfulness, his unreasonable determination to house himself, his childish resentment at sir hudson lowe’s conduct, have led to the idea that napoleon spent his time at st. helena in fuming and complaining. but if one will take into consideration the work that the fallen emperor did in his exile, he will have a quite different impression of this period of his life. he lived at st. helena from october, 1815, to may, 1821. in this period of five and a half years he wrote or dictated enough matter to fill the four good-sized volumes which complete the bulky correspondence published by the order of napoleon iii., and he furnished the great collection of conversations embodied in the memoirs published by his companions.

this means a great amount of thinking and planning; for if one will go over these dictations and writings to see 287how they were made, he will find that they are not slovenly in arrangement or loose in style. on the contrary, they are concise, logical, and frequently vivid. they are full of errors, it is true, but that is due to the fact that napoleon had not at hand any official documents for making history. he depended almost entirely on his memory. the books and maps he had, he used diligently, but his supply was limited and unsatisfactory.

it must be remembered, too, that this work was done under great physical difficulties. he was suffering keenly much of the time after he reached the island. even for a well man, working under favorable circumstances, the literary output of napoleon at st. helena would be creditable. for one in his circumstances it was extraordinary. a look at it is the best possible refutation of the common notion that he spent his time at st. helena fuming at sir hudson lowe and “stewing himself in hot water,” to use the expression of the governor.

before the end of 1820 it was certain that he could not live long. in december of that year the death of his sister eliza was announced to him. “you see, eliza has just shown me the way. death, which had forgotten my family, has begun to strike it. my turn cannot be far off.” nor was it. on may 5, 1821, he died.

his preparations for death were methodical and complete. during the last fortnight of april all his strength was spent in dictating to montholon his last wishes. he even dictated, ten days before the end, the note which he wished sent to sir hudson lowe to announce his death. the articles he had in his possession at longwood he had wrapped up and ticketed with the names of the persons to whom he wished to leave them. his will remembered numbers of those whom he had loved or who had served him. even the chinese laborers then employed about the place were remembered. “do not let them be forgotten. let them have a few score of napoleons.”

288

napoleon’s last day.

from a sculpture by véla. this superb statue was exhibited in paris at the exhibition universelle of 1867 (italian section), and obtained the gold medal. it was purchased by the french government, and is now at versailles.

289the will included a final word on certain questions on which he felt posterity ought distinctly to understand his position. he died, he said, in the apostolical roman religion. he declared that he had always been pleased with marie louise, whom he besought to watch over his son. to this son, whose name recurs repeatedly in the will, he gave a motto—all for the french people. he died prematurely, he said, assassinated by the english oligarchy. the unfortunate results of the invasion of france he attributed to the treason of marmont, augereau, talleyrand, and lafayette. he defended the death of the duc d’enghien. “under similar circumstances i should act in the same way.” this will is sufficient evidence that he died as he had lived, courageously and proudly, and inspired by a profound conviction of the justice of his own cause. in 1822 the french courts declared the will void.

they buried him in a valley beside a spring he loved, and though no monument but a willow marked the spot, perhaps no other grave in history is so well known. certainly the magnificent mausoleum which marks his present resting place in paris has never touched the imagination and the heart as did the humble willow-shaded mound in st. helena.

290

napoleon lying dead.

“from the original drawing of captain crockatt, taken the morning after napoleon’s decease.” published july 18, 1821, in london.

291the peace of the world was insured. napoleon was dead. but though he was dead, the echo of his deeds was so loud in the ears of france and england that they tried every device to turn it into discord or to drown it by another and a newer sound. the ignoble attempt was never entirely successful, and the day will come when personal and partisan considerations will cease to influence judgments on this mighty man. for he was a mighty man. one may be convinced that the fundamental principles of his life were despotic; that he used the noble ideas of personal liberty, of equality, and of fraternity, as a tyrant; that the whole tendency of his civil and military system was to concentrate a power in a single pair of hands, never to distribute it where it belonged, among the people; one may feel that he frequently sacrificed personal dignity to a theatrical desire to impose on the crowd as a hero of classic proportions, a god from olympus; one may groan over the blood he spilt. but he cannot refuse to acknowledge that no man ever comprehended more clearly the splendid science of war; he cannot fail to bow to the genius which conceived and executed the italian campaign, which fought the classic battles of austerlitz, jena, and wagram. these deeds are great epics. they move in noble, measured lines, and stir us by their might and perfection. it is only a genius of the most magnificent order which could handle men and materials as napoleon did.

he is even more imposing as a statesman. when one confronts the france of 1799, corrupt, crushed, hopeless, false to the great ideals she had wasted herself for, and watches napoleon firmly and steadily bring order into this chaos, give the country work and bread, build up her broken walls and homes, put money into her pocket and restore her credit, bind up her wounds and call back her scattered children, set her again to painting pictures and reading books, to smiling and singing, he has a napoleon greater than the general.

nor were these civil deeds transient. france to-day is largely what napoleon made her, and the most liberal institutions of continental europe bear his impress. it is only a mind of noble proportions which can grasp the needs of a people, and a hand of mighty force which can supply them.

292

wax cast of the face of napoleon, made at st. helena in 1821, by dr. arnott.

293but he was greater as a man than as a warrior or statesman; greater in that rare and subtle personal quality which made men love him. men went down on their knees and wept at sight of him when he came home from elba—rough men whose hearts were untrained, and who loved naturally and spontaneously the thing which was lovable. it was only selfish, warped, abnormal natures, which had been stifled by etiquette and diplomacy and self-interest, who abandoned him. where nature lived in a heart, napoleon’s sway was absolute. it was not strange. he was in everything a natural man; his imagination, his will, his intellect, his heart, were native, untrained. they appealed to unworldly men in all their rude, often brutal strength and sweetness. if they awed them, they won them.

this native force of napoleon explains, at least partially, his hold on men; it explains, too, the contrasts of his character. never was there a life lived so full of lights and shades, of majors and minors. it was a kaleidoscope, changing at every moment. beside the most practical and commonplace qualities are the most idealistic. no man ever did more drudgery, ever followed details more slavishly; yet who ever dared so divinely, ever played such hazardous games of chance? no man ever planned more for his fellows, yet who ever broke so many hearts? no man ever made practical realities of so many of liberty’s dreams, yet it was by despotism that he gave liberal and beneficent laws. no man was more gentle, none more cruel. never was there a more chivalrous lover until he was disillusioned; a more affectionate husband, even when faith had left him; yet no man ever trampled more rudely on womanly delicacy and reserve.

he was valorous as a god in danger, loved it, played with it; yet he would turn pale at a broken mirror, cross himself if he stumbled, fancy the coffee poisoned at which an enemy had looked.

294he was the greatest genius of his time, perhaps of all time, yet he lacked the crown of greatness—that high wisdom born of reflection and introspection which knows its own powers and limitations, and never abuses them; that fine sense of proportion which holds the rights of others in the same solemn reverence it demands for its own.